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Saturday, March 11, 2017

A
favourite movie in our household is Ridley Scott's debut film 'The
Duellists', which was based on a Joseph Conrad short story and starred
Kieth Carradine and Harvey Keitel.

To
those who've not had the pleasure of seeing the film, it charts the
quarrel and careers of two French cavalry officers, Gabriel Feraud and
Armand d'Huber, serving in Napoleon's Grande Armee. The two men fight a
long succession of duels that span almost two decades, ending in 1816
with the return of the Bourbon monarchy. 'The Duellists' is beautifully
filmed, elegantly written and well acted - a real treat to any
historical movie buff. We love the film so much that during a past trip
to France, Sarah and I purposefully detoured to stay in beautiful
Sarlat-la-Canéda, to visit many of the locations which were used in the
film (along with its great food and wine!).

Keith Carradin (d'Hubert), Harvey Keitel (Feraud) and film director Ridley Scott on set in Sarlat, France.

The
film (and Conrad's short story) are actually based on true events which
are more incredible than its adaptations. The characters of d'Hubert
and Feraud's were actually Dupont and Fournier-Sarlovèze, whom Conrad
disguised slightly, but otherwise the overall story follows the sketch of
actual events.

François Fournier-Sarlovèze the true inspiration of Keitel's 'Feraud'

In 'The Encyclopedia of the Sword', Nick Evangelista wrote:

As
a young officer in Napoleon's Army, Dupont was ordered to deliver a
disagreeable message to a fellow officer, Fournier, a rabid duellist.
Fournier, taking out his subsequent rage on the messenger, challenged
Dupont to a duel. This sparked a succession of encounters, waged with
sword and pistol, that spanned decades. The contest was eventually
resolved when Dupont was able to overcome Fournier in a pistol duel,
forcing him to promise never to bother him again.

They fought their first duel in 1794 from which Fournier demanded a rematch. This rematch resulted in at least another 30 duels over the next 19 years, in which the two officers fought mounted, on foot, with swords, rapiers and sabres.

This 28mm set is from Brigade Games.
I've painted them in the colours of the d'Huber's 3rd Hussars and
Feraud's 7th. For those who are familiar with the film we can place the
figures in the 1801 Augsburg duel (fought in a vaulted cellar) due to the men's junior rank, style of hair (their braided cadenettes are awesome) and the comportment of their uniforms.